Teaching kindergartners to cook Kkadduki

Written by Bessie about Korea, Republic of. Feelin' happy

Once a month we have to teach our kindergartners how to cook something. We have 2 hours to teach them how to make something simple like pasta salad or difficult like rice cakes. As a teacher, it's a huge test of patience because the kids get so excited. I've found bribing them with stirring rights generally helps the whole things flow better.

So what's kkakduki (깍두기) you're wondering? Yeah, it's pronounced cock-dookie. Us teachers were extremely excited about that. Well, it's a kind of kimchi = radish cubes + red pepper spices. In the end it looked like this:

Cooking Kkakdukki (kimchi) with my kindergartners

We eat kkakduki at least once a week for lunch.

Cooking this time ended up being loads of fun. Each kid got a cutting board & a big plastic cake knife to cut radishes. They love using the knives. Then I rationed up the ingredients so each of them put in a little bit of the garlic, red pepper powder, and nasty little shrimp. How do you strech a recipe with 4 ingedients into an hour? Uh huh, we all wonder the same thing sometimes.

Here's the cooking in action:

They were working so hard, they probably should have been getting paid.

They each had the important job of 4 mini-shrimps in the bowl.

Each anxious for their turn to stir.

Kyle with his kimchi-loving kids.

With 20 minutes to kill, I let one of my students take some pictures. The rest fought to sit on my lap. :)

Aren't they adorable? Exhausting, but adorable.

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November 23, 2009 Melissa: They really are beautiful Bess!

November 23, 2009 Den & Sue: What a bunch of cuties!

November 23, 2009 Linda: Loved, loved, loved the color coordinated chef's hats and aprons! Kyle...you looked smashing! Cultures make for interesting differences. I really laughed at the thought of telling American students that they would be preparing cock-dookie.

December 07, 2009 Bessie: It's really amusing the lengths they go to sometimes to do cute things with the kids. They do like being chefs though!

And I had a hard time not laughing sometimes when we were talking about the food...

November 24, 2009 DADDIO: I think this is the most adorable and colorful blog you have ever posted! You and Kyle look terrific and the students are amazing. Thanks for sharing these happy events!!!
Love to both of you..............

December 07, 2009 Bessie: Thanks thanks! We have a great time with those little kids, even if they make us a little nuts sometimes...

December 06, 2009 mumsie: From the looks on their HAPPY Faces, you have furnished your little students with a GREAT experience! And it appears that you have mastered the art of Plan-Plan-Overplan to ensure your students' success! LOL Love it!